How can I merge two dictionaries in Python 3.10 while handling duplicate keys gracefully?
I tried several approaches but none seem to work. I'm trying to merge two dictionaries in Python 3.10, but I'm working with issues when both dictionaries have overlapping keys. I want to combine them such that if a key exists in both dictionaries, the value from the second dictionary should overwrite the value from the first. Additionally, if both values are lists, I want to concatenate them instead of just replacing them. Here's what I've tried so far: ```python # Example dictionaries dict1 = {'a': [1, 2], 'b': 3, 'c': 5} dict2 = {'b': 4, 'c': [6, 7], 'd': 8} # Merging logic (that isn't working as intended) merged_dict = {} for key in set(dict1) | set(dict2): if key in dict1 and key in dict2: if isinstance(dict1[key], list) and isinstance(dict2[key], list): merged_dict[key] = dict1[key] + dict2[key] else: merged_dict[key] = dict2[key] # This is where I'm unsure if it's the best approach elif key in dict1: merged_dict[key] = dict1[key] else: merged_dict[key] = dict2[key] print(merged_dict) ``` When I run this code, I get the expected result for most cases, but I'm worried that my handling of different data types might lead to unexpected behavior. For example, if one value is a list and the other isn't, the code currently just overwrites it, which isn't what I want. What would be the best practice to handle such edge cases gracefully, while still achieving the desired merging functionality? Any help would be greatly appreciated!